When a new version of a game you particularly enjoy is announced, there is usually a brief moment of pure optimistic glee that occurs, in spite of the cynicism that years of disappointment have built in gamers like a well-worn callus. Much as I slag on Guitar Hero nowadays, I still couldn't help but feel that thrill when I saw IGN's exclusive on the guitar strumming game's DS port, Guitar Hero: On Tour. But then I actually took an objective look at it.
Admittedly, making a guitar-based rhythm game on a portable system small enough to fit in your front pocket is no easy task. That being said, in spite of Vicarious Visions' (the development team for Guitar Hero: On Tour) best efforts, the fret board peripheral (which plugs into the GBA slot of the DS) still looks to be an incredibly awkward way to play, with players strumming with a specially developed pick stylus and wrapping their left hands around the back of the DS to grip the peripheral. Even if the video had not made me want to push both actors down a flight of stairs, this would still have left me less than impressed.
Guitar Hero: On Tour will feature a similar career mode to its home system-based predecessor, as well as multiplayer options supporting both co-op and competitive play. The battle mode started in Guitar Hero III will be implemented on the DS, with power-ups causing rabid fans to swarm the screen of the opponent's DS, forcing them to sign autographs with the stylus until they've sufficiently appeased their starstruck admirers, as well as a bevy of other battle power-ups that implement DS-specific functionalities in unique ways.
Ultimately I can't confidently say this will end up being as awkward and awful as I suspect it might, and a sliver of hope remains, if for no other reason than I'd really like to enjoy the Guitar Hero series once again. Hope springs eternal here at Destructoid HQ, so maybe, just maybe, this will actually end up being a really awesome port of a franchise that's begun to wither on the vine.
[Thanks, Adam!]
Contest:
3:13 PM on 03.19.2008
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TOTALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!
UNCOMFORTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and stupid)
That better be comfortable to hold or I really dont want to play it.
Also, the gimmicks like blowing to put out flames and signing autographs is really dumb.
Fun rhythm game? Sure. Fun guitar game? Not a chance, fancy pants. And I was initially optimistic about this too. Le sigh.
That already turns me down.
I doubt that 4 buttons will be a challenge either.
Fail.
Just watching this makes me feel gay.
I don't really want to know how you feel when you actually use that...thing.
Look at it this way folks. One the summer heat rises and aeveryone is dressing less, most people want to be outside. This would be a great game to take with you.
As for the sound, I wouldn't be surprised if this had the hook to a guitar amp option, like Jam Sessions.
What I want to know is how they are gonna handle and store the music. Are we looking at EBA quality or better tracks here? And what about DLC?
That's exactly what I was thinking, lol. It totally doesn't look like you are playing a guitar and I imagine it won't feel like it either. Looks much more like Accordion Hero.
Kinda lame in my opinion.
B. I might like this if you didn't have to strum
C. Can we get audiosurf on DS plz?
I think this was the actual time of death.
Thats what made Guitar Hero so successful in the first place. Retail stores like Best Buy and WalMart's were setting it up in their stores and everyone knew how it played and how fun it was.
No one is going to go out and buy this without trying it.
Unless your a Guitar Hero whore.
I got off that band wagon when Rock Band came out.
Now if that was Rock Band for DS... I'd be buying that day one!
No one plays DDR or Guitar Hero on the controllers, though it's possible with both. Why would it possibly work without the completely separate peripheral?
Make a different game. Violin Hero would actually work quite well with that controller. How about make a little keyboard attachment for Piano Hero, with the touch screen as pedals? Trumpet Hero, using the microphone to regulate the notes. Christ, I'm not even getting paid for this. How about release one for EVERY INSTRUMENT, then make it so they can all link together for Symphony Hero! WHERE'S MY PAYCHECK NINTENDO!?
Wait, oh actually yeah this is one of the most retarded things ever.
Is going to sell well, but is it going to sound well? Even with earplugs?
I think they are slaughtering the cash cow with this one.
Looks like it´s gonna be like holding a handycam, and i don´t know if that hurts, since you rarelly press the buttons.